


Stupid Cupid

by emma98



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, background bucky/nat because that's how I roll, cupid has an arrow or two for Steve and Darcy, excessive usage of parentheticals, for the Steve/ Darcy 2017 Valentine's Exchange, loki messes around with Cupids arrows because he's a turd bucket
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 03:51:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9639593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emma98/pseuds/emma98
Summary: Cupid rarely gets it wrong.  There are millions and millions of matches made every year, and Cupid usually gets it right.  So when Cupid hits Steve Rogers and Darcy Lewis with the wrong arrows in 2014, it becomes rather irksome.But now is the time to make things right again.  Whether Darcy and Steve are ready for it or not.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Little_Plebe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Plebe/gifts).



> This is for littleplebe, who is AMAZING. I was SO excited to receive her in the exchange that mcgregorswench organized for shieldshock content creators. 
> 
> I hope she enjoys this silly bit of fluff!  
> Edited to add the tumblr link to the Movie poster art that littleplebe made for her own gift! Because she is awesome and lovely!
> 
> <http://littleplebe.tumblr.com/post/157061841904/for-wahwahwaffles-who-wrote-the-lovely-piece-of>

**Stupid Cupid**

 

**(art work by Little Plebe)**

****

* * *

 

Natasha Romanoff was relentless, to be sure.  But Darcy doubted she was capable of pulling this one off.  

 

Darcy and Jane had been dispatched to Greece, the Acropolis of Athens to be exact, in order to analyze some interesting readings that suggested the ancient site had recently seen some portal activity heretofore unseen on Earth.  A post-Accords world meant that Doctor Jane Foster, Nobel Prize winner and future Queen of the Nine Realms, was technically a superhero in that she was expected to abide by the Accords just as anyone else running around in kevlar reinforced tights.  

 

It was something that Jane and her assistant Darcy embraced, actually.  And the fact that they had gone rogue the moment the Accords were signed was something else that they embraced.  Darcy had created a bedazzled red domino mask for Jane.  Her own mask was a black velvet winged eye mask.  Darcy had created an instagram account for them, _Rouge Super Scientists_ , and she was happy to say they had over one hundred thousand followers in the span of a few weeks.

 

The downside of being anti-establishment Science Heroes meant that Darcy and Jane were required (by the Black Widow), to have actual facts Super Heroes running security for them when they had to go and do super science.  Darcy preferred when Sam and Wanda watched them.  Wanda was a doll, and so fun to have around.  And Sam was actually really helpful with the science, especially practical physics and quick math.  

 

Scott and T’Challa had been Darcy’s least favorite security crew.  The two nerds hadn’t stopped nerding out with Jane for three full days.  Darcy had had to force Scott’s suit to shrink to get him to go to sleep on the third day.  And she had threatened T’Challa with catnip.  It hadn’t worked, but the King of Wakanda was smart enough to realize that he had gotten carried away.  

 

One of Darcy’s favorite security duos was of course Clint and Natasha.  Jane _hated_ when it was Clint and Natasha.  Because Darcy was hardly helpful to science-ing, when she was plotting pranks with Clint and also being mother henned by the busy body that was Natasha.  But Jane did enjoy the effect Natasha had on Darcy.  But that was because Jane was _practically_ an old married woman at this point, she wanted to see other people as shackled and miserable as her.  

 

Darcy much preferred to be wild and free.  Sure, she didn’t actually use her singleness for carnal enjoyment (except that one time in Washington DC in 2014 with that hot Captain America lookalike who actually turned out to not be a lookalike at all, that she met at a bookstore and then spent four hours talking (and making out with)).  

 

Darcy reveled in her single status because she had no one to answer to.  She spent the meager money that Jane gave her on whatever she wanted (the time she had bought forty dollars worth of dumplings in China had been totally worth it).  She spent her free time however she wished (the aforementioned instagram and a tumblr where she low key released Avenger’s most boring secrets (Clint was lactose intolerant, Tony used odor eaters and wore no socks with loafers like a stinking heathen) was totally worth it).

 

Natasha had indulged her until Darcy hit her twenty-fifth year of existence.  And then it was like the gates of matchmaking hell had been opened and Darcy was at the front lines, taking the brunt of the _‘There’s this guy I think you should meet’_  and _‘Seriously, just meet him for coffee, he’s great_!’ missiles from Natasha.  And it wouldn’t have been so bad, it was just that Natasha always seemed to be trying to set her up with the same guy.

 

For the past two years, she’d been attempting to dupe Darcy with the _same loser_.  Honestly, Darcy knew she was no prize, but did she really warrant getting set up with a man who couldn’t get his own date in two years?  

 

Jane loved Natasha’s attempts at getting Darcy settled down.  Usually, Darcy was so annoyed with their Black Widow benefactor that she didn’t have the energy to properly wrangle the scientist.  Jane loved bending those rules and regulations where Darcy was concerned.

 

“Awww, look at the cute fat baby!” Darcy cooed at the baby who was hanging off the back of a tourist that was leaving the site.  She made a squished up face at the baby, who giggled in response and Darcy felt a warmth go through her.  “Man, nothing is better than making a baby laugh.  Honestly.”

 

“You’re lucky Nat isn’t here to witness that,” Jane said smugly.  “She’d be convinced your biological clock was ticking.”

 

“I’ll be sure to tell her.”

 

Darcy scowled at the newest member of the rotating security team.  Bucky Barnes gave her an obnoxious wink back.  The World War Two veteran had been out of cryofreeze for five weeks now.  This trip to Greece had been deemed a great fit for Bucky, in that it probably wouldn’t lead to bloodshed, and aside from Clint and Natasha, he was the only security member to speak fluent Greek.  

 

“I’m going to override the quinjet flight path and take you back to your frozen tomb, Elsa,” Darcy grumbled as the formerly brainwashed assassin came ambling over the ruins to smile at the scientists.

 

“Aww kid, I get that reference,” Bucky smirked at her.   “And I’m _definitely_ telling my Red now.  We’re gonna get you to go on that double with us whether you like it or not.”

 

“Buck, leave Miss Lewis alone.”

 

Darcy sneered playfully at Bucky, looking very much like his little sister Becca used to look when she got the last little scrap of apple cake before Bucky could claim it.  Steve glared at Bucky, looking extra menacing inexplicably, and also a little red around the ears for some random, unknown reason.  Steve won the full forty-five second stare down with Bucky as the sniper full out pouted before stomping off to where he would be watching for potential threats.

 

“Doctor Foster, are you ready?” Steve asked respectfully.  

 

“Let’s do this, Spangles,” Jane nodded.

 

“I told you to stop calling me that,” Steve sighed heavily.

 

“Sorry, it’s a leftover from too much time with Stark,” Jane genuinely apologized before marching towards where Darcy had set up the equipment.

 

It left Darcy and Steve standing awkwardly together in the beautiful purple and orange lights of the sunset.  The sea breeze was perfect as it whipped around them gently, causing Darcy’s brown curls to move back off of her shoulders in the alluring gusts of wind, drawing Steve’s eye to the beautiful line of her clavicle.  Darcy sighed as she got a whiff of Steve’s spicy cologne mixed with good old fashioned ivory soap.  

 

She’d traveled the world and the nine realms, and no one smelled as good as Steve Rogers.  

“So,” Steve said quietly.  His nonchalance seemed forced and unnatural.  “How have you been?”

 

“Peachy,” Darcy blurted out, then winced internally, wondering if she could possibly sound any stupider around Steve Rogers.  It used to not be so difficult to talk to the man in front of  her.  That is, before she knew who he actually was.

 

They’d gotten along right from the start.  Literally bumping into each other in a bookstore, his arms full of books about cooking delicious food with microwaves.  Darcy’s own books had been small, condensed classics, all the better to shove into corners of her suitcase for her travels with Jane.  

 

She’d been smitten with him the moment he had declared _Little Women_ his favorite book, asking where she had found the tiny tome.  And Steve had been beguiled when she had immediately started writing tips and her own easy recipes in the corners of the margins of his cookbook.

 

They’d grabbed some coffee together and then went to the Lincoln Memorial a few blocks away.  It had been the best date either Steve or Darcy had ever had.

 

Now, Steve stood in front of her with his hands in his pockets, trying to read her reaction.  It seemed like she was angry.  He wondered if she would EVER forgive him for the transgression of not telling her who he actually was all those years ago.  Brock Rumlow, of all people, had been the person to interrupt their date when retrieving Steve for a mission.  The Strike team leader had tracked Steve down to a park bench in front of the Lincoln Memorial and had caught him necking with Darcy Lewis like a teenager

 

Rumlow had called her a super hero groupie and that had caused Darcy to look at Steve critically before realization dawned on her about who he actually was.  She’d taken off faster than a bat out of hell.  It had been a blow to Steve’s ego and self-esteem.

 

He’d meant to look her up sooner.  Rumlow had explained that she was friendly with Thor.  And he’d asked JARVIS for help in finding her.  But then the Lemurian Star happened and the shit show that followed, and Steve found the next time he met up with Darcy Lewis was after Ultron at the new Avenger’s facility.

 

She’d avoided him like the plague.

 

He had the good sense to know when he’d blown his chance, and did his best not to pine over her.  It hadn’t worked out too well, and now that her safety and security was in his hands, it was even worse.  He could remember very clearly how much fun he’d had with her for those four hours back in 2014.  He could _very_ clearly remember when she’d declared him adorable after having his first sip of a ridiculous, blended coffee drink and then grabbing him by the t-shirt and kissing the whipped cream off of his lips.

 

But that was a long time ago, when he was just Steve, a guy she had met cute in a book shop mishap.  Now he was just another guy who had lied to her, something that ate him up on the inside.  

 

“Hey uhm, about how you are with Bucky,” Steve said softly.

 

“Nat said it was okay!” Darcy said quickly.  “She said that I should treat him normal, and honestly, being a little pest to him feels sort of right, and I really think he’s awesome, I’m not acting out of malice---”

 

“ _Darcy_ ,” Steve interrupted with a big smile on his face at her rapid fire words.  He loved how fast she could talk when she really got into it.  He loved listening to her talk, period.  “I wanted to say thanks, cause I know that most people would treat him like glass...really dangerous glass…”

 

“Fuck that noise,” Darcy said insistently, looking off to the horizon as the sun set beautifully in the sky.  

 

Steve took a slow, measured breath as his eyes darted down to her mouth.  Profanity was never better from the ruby red lips of a beautiful, smart dame.  He quickly averted his eyes though, because he didn’t want to make her more uncomfortable by leering at her.  Instead he just stood there, hands in his pockets, eyes on the ground and the only thought in his head was how he could get her to forgive him and give him a second chance.

 

Darcy looked away as the sun made it’s last gorgeous, dying gasps in the sky and chanced a look at Steve.  In that moment, she hated Brock Rumlow more than anything.  He’d _ruined_ any chance she had ever had with the beautiful, kind, smart man standing in front of her.  She wasn’t a damned super hero groupie.  She wasn’t cruising around for super heroes when she met Steve.  And spent the afternoon with Steve.  And shared a ridiculous amount of searing hot kisses with Steve.  

 

She’d been shocked to realize he was Steve Rogers. But she’d been more horrified to be thought of as a cape chaser after she had made a run for it.  Steve kept his distance every time their paths crossed since then.  Even if Rumlow had turned out to be an evil bastard, obviously Steve had taken his words to heart.  

 

“Just, thanks.  It means a lot to me, Darcy,” Steve said softly.

 

“You’re welcome, Steve,” Darcy nodded.

 

Silence extended between them again as the night-time lighting started to come on around the landmark.  A shadow caught Steve’s eye and he turned quickly, angling his body to block Darcy’s.  She peered around him though, and both of them saw a teenager, neither a boy, nor a girl, but more androgynous in gender.  They were ethereal in their beauty though, with blond curls wildly chaotic around their head, falling down on tanned skin of a cherubic face.  Brown eyes twinkled in the newly turned on lights as they stared down at Steve and Darcy with a mischievous tilt to their child-like mouth.

 

“Excuse me, the site is closed for the evening,” Steve said tersely.  

 

“You can’t keep me out of here, we took over for the Greeks,” the young person blithely sassed back.  

 

“I’m going to ask you once to remove yourself, or I’ll be forced to remove you,” Steve said insistently.  

 

“Pushy,” the young person rolled their eyes before walking away.  

 

“Darce!  I need that tablet with the Alpha 1.33.241 readings, please!” Jane called out.

 

“I should---” Darcy muttered, waving her hands in Jane’s direction by way of explanation.

 

“Yeah, I’m going to go make sure that kid leaves,” Steve nodded as he watched her walk away.  

 

Darcy threw herself into her work, trying to ignore the fact that Steve was watching her from afar.  Three hours later, it was pitch black and had gotten cooler, and Jane was winding down.  The readings hadn’t been good.  She couldn’t gauge what they were.  There was _something_ there, but Jane had no idea what it was.  

 

And to Darcy, that meant that Jane would have something new to obsess over and figure out over the next few months.  The assistant was organizing spectrometers when she heard the sound of a pebble bouncing along stone.  Neither Steve nor Bucky would have made that much noise and Jane still had her face buried in a tablet full of readouts.  

 

Darcy finally realized who the young person either was or was pretending to be because of what they were aiming at her point blank.  It was a nerf gun style crossbow, but it was a bow, for sure.  The cherubic face, the flushed and rosy cheeks, the ethereal, genderless beauty of the being.  

 

“You’ve made my job very difficult in the last few years, young lady,” the crossbow wielder said with some joy.  “You use the wrong arrow _once_ and suddenly you’re the laughing stock at the office.  And it hadn’t even been my fault, that damned Até thinks he’s so funny, keeping people apart when they’re meant to be together.”

 

The young person rolled their eyes and wrinkled their nose, “Just cause he’s miserable and has some kind of vendetta against your heart match, he ruins _my_ reputation.”

 

“Are you on drugs?” Darcy asked hopefully.  She knew who Até was.  It was important, after all, to know exactly what your enemies are called in _all_ languages.  She was going to have some words with Thor.  She knew Loki was his brother, but he seriously needed to be reigned in.

 

“Oh lady, I wish,” they answered back cheekily.  “It took a lot of work to get back here to fix it.  Your boss isn’t going to figure out those readings, FYI.”

 

Darcy sighed and looked up at Cupid, because it really did have to be Cupid looking down at her with the crossbow pointed at her and she knew she was in _so_ much trouble.

 

“Before you shoot me, who gets the other arrow?” Darcy wondered anxiously.

 

“Lady, if you don’t know who already has the matching arrow, you are thicker than I thought you were,” Cupid laughed.  “You both got the wrong one years ago, kept you apart when we wanted you together.  It would have saved a lot of trouble in the long run.”

 

“Darcy!” Steve shouted from the other side of the ruins.  

 

“Really?” Darcy blinked up at Cupid.  

 

“Wrong arrow the first time, kept you apart.  I’m fixing my mistake,” Cupid promised.  “Take a deep breath, lady.  It’s about to get exciting.”

 

The nerf arrow zooming towards her made her squeeze her eyes shut in anticipation and the next thing she knew, Steve was holding her in his arms, staring down at her in utter concern.  

 

“Are you alright, Darcy?  Sweetheart?” Steve wondered.

 

“Oh---yes, I’m alright,” Darcy nodded, smiling softly up at him, coming out of a dreamy haze.  “It feels right for the first time in a long time.”

 

“I know,” Steve nodded eagerly.  It felt like he was completely unleashed in regards to his feelings for her now.  Nothing was holding him back.  “Forgive me, please?”

 

“About what?” Darcy shook her head, utterly bemused.  There was nothing to forgive as far as she knew.

  
“Not telling you the truth about who I was that beautiful day that we met,” Steve winced.  “I don’t know why I didn’t stop you from leaving that afternoon.  I should have told Brock to jump off a cliff.”

 

“It was just a misunderstanding,” Darcy shook her head.  “I wasn’t upset, I thought you believed him.”

  
“Sweetheart no, that’s just---I knew from the start you were good and genuine,” Steve promised her.  His hands drifted up her arms and held her face in his hands.  “And beautiful and smart and funny…”

 

“Cupid said something about a wrong arrow?” Darcy blinked up at him.  “Everything feels so much better now.”

  
“Yeah, yeah it does,” Steve nodded.  He heard something in his comm unit, but didn’t pay it any mind as he pulled it out and threw it the ground.  “Wanna run away with me?”

  
Darcy’s grin was her answer, and she leaned up and gave him a searing kiss on the lips before he grabbed her hand and took off into the night.

 

* * *

 

**_Two Weeks Later_ **

 

"You got eyes on them, Red?"

 

"Negative."

 

Bucky's nose wrinkled at the terse response.  He wanted to slam his vibranium fist into the cheap plaster of the alcove he had been hiding in.  The sound of bells began ringing and he cursed under his breath at the jolt that went through his system.  Steve had picked a place like this on purpose.  He'd done it on purpose like the troll he was.  

 

It was hard to keep a sniper's calm in a Vegas casino, and a healed Bucky didn't have the Winter Soldier's inhuman detachment.  When someone won a jackpot and screamed like a banshee, he mildly flinched and Bucky felt that it was annoying as all get out.

 

"I don't understand how he's hiding," Sam came over the comm unit.  "He's as broad as  a barn."

 

"My lightning sister is a cunning lass."

 

Bucky furrowed his brow at Clint's horrible Thor-inspired accent.

 

"Sorry, I was filling in for Big Kahuna, since he's not here," Clint explained.  "And guys, remember, that yeah, Steve usually takes charge in these kinds of situations, but he's never actually gone on the run with Darcy before.  She's at the helm here, he's doing her bidding, I guarantee it."

 

Bucky considered that.  He had been chasing after Steve and Darcy for two weeks now, ever since Greece.  Barton had rendezvoused with Bucky in Italy, taking Jane and dropping off Natasha instead thirty-six hours into their fearless leader's absence.  It should have been a piece of cake finding them between Bucky and Natasha’s considerable skills.  

 

Bucky may not have the Winter Soldier's inhuman characteristics any longer, but he did retain a lot of the skill set.  Between he and Natasha and their considerable attributes, they should have been able to pin down the location of anyone on the planet.  But apparently, that was all for naught, because Steve and Darcy had led them on a merry chase across the globe.

 

 **_Italy:_ **  A picture of Steve and Darcy kissing in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa had gone viral.  And by the time Bucky had gotten there, they were long gone.

 

 **_Paris_ ** : Natasha managed to glimpse Steve with her own two eyes with a bag full of groceries.  She'd chased him down a cobblestone street and found she'd been led into a dead end, distinctly Steve and Darcy-less.

 

 **_Tony Stark’s Private Island in the Caribbean:_ ** The remote island had been a shit show.  How did you not capture a civilian and Steve Rogers when they were on a private island, indulging in nude sunbathing (according to Maria Hill's satellite surveillance)?  

 

Bucky had definitely  known that Steve was head over heels in love with Darcy and pining for her for years, but this was completely unlike him.  It was almost like the pair of them were on a whirlwind honeymoon, gallivanting across the globe, taunting him at each stop.

 

Sam had helpfully suggested that maybe Steve was finally claiming payback for the merry chase that Bucky himself had led Steve and Sam on.  He'd gotten a metal middle finger held up in his face in response, of course, but that was business as usual.

 

And now, of all places, the two idiots in apparent love, had led them to Vegas.  Bucky was desperate to find them to avoid them being married at the end of it all.  While neither Darcy nor Steve had blood relations that needed to be at the wedding, Bucky wasn't going to be particularly fond of telling Jane Foster that she missed out on being maid of honor.  The astrophysicist was vicious when she wanted to be.  

 

Also, Bucky had to admit, that he might be a little put out at not being able to stand up for Steve at the altar.  Along with that idiot Wilson.  

 

"Hey Buck."

 

Speak of the mother fucking devil.

 

Bucky turned and glared at Darcy and Steve, who had snuck up on him noiselessly, thanks to the fact that Darcy was being carried piggy back style by Steve.  A vibranium arm reached out and grabbed Steve by the _What happens in Vegas_ logo shirt and gripped him tight.

 

"What in the ever loving HELL do you think you're doing, punk?" Bucky demanded.  

 

"You have them?" Natasha questioned in his ear.  "I'm on my way."

 

"Well, we were hoping to get hitched, if you'll stand up for us," Steve said calmly.

 

"Are you outside of your damned mind?" Bucky demanded hotly.  "You can't do it without Foster, she'll have my balls in a sling!"

 

* * *

 

As it turned out, Jane Foster wasn't a problem.  She arrived with Thor fifteen minutes later, just in time to smack Darcy's rear end and get herself into a truly hideous bridesmaid dress.  

 

Bucky was standing in shock next to an equally still Wilson as Steve doodled on a piece of paper in the little waiting room where they had been ushered to prepare for the wedding festivities.  

 

"You thought she hated you until two weeks ago," Bucky managed to get out finally.

 

"That's all water under the bridge, pal.  She wasn't upset, she thought I didn't like her---" Steve laughed at the thought.  "Like that's even possible when I love her more than anything."

 

"Natasha got security footage of you guys getting hit by a kid with arrows," Bucky said, his voice quiet and urgent.

 

"Nerf gun arrows," Sam rolled his eyes.  He didn't see what the big deal was.  So Steve wanted to get married.  Nothing wrong with that.  Besides, if they came to a few weeks later, there was always an annulment.  His argument had been that they should let Captain America live a little, from the very start.

 

"Arrows all the same," Bucky insisted.  Bucky had the burden of knowledge that Sam didn’t.  For Steve, marriage was forever.  There would be no annulment and Bucky would prefer to make sure magic wasn’t involved in one of the most important decisions in Darcy and Steve’s lives.   "And then you go grabbing Darcy, kissing the living daylights out of her, then you just run off for two weeks, Steve!"

 

"We were making up for lost time," Steve shrugged.  

 

"Did the kid with the arrows do something to you?" Bucky questioned.  "You aren't acting like your normal self right now, punk."

 

"Really?  What version of Steve Rogers did you grow up with?" Sam questioned smartly.  "Cause the Steve I've spent time with jumps into situations feet first and then hits the ground running.  And Darcy'll take the inkling of an idea and turn it into a full blown, Tony award winning musical if she can.  He's the spark of a match and _she's gasoline_.  What did you and Nat expect by putting him on the security detail?  Eventually something would break between them.  This was inevitable, Barnes."

 

"Stuff it, Wilson!" Bucky countered.  "Thor says it was Cupid based off of Jane's readings."

 

"Yeah, Darcy said as much too that first night," Steve shrugged.

 

"And you decided to come and get married before the effects of fucking _Cupid_ could wear off?” Bucky sighed, clearly aggravated when he didn’t actually want to be aggravated.  He was Darcy’s biggest fan.  He’d been obnoxiously pestering Steve to talk to her for five weeks before they got hit with a whammy.  And Steve had been stubborn and reticent about _not_ trying to get Darcy to change her mind.

 

Bucky had wanted to punch him for being so damned stubborn.

 

“It’s not magic,” Steve said quietly.

 

“Steve, we saw the arrows but we couldn’t find them on the ground,” Sam supplied.  “Thor confirmed that there are a race of beings out there who guide hearts to others.”

 

“Yeah, but it’s not magic,” Steve said, his voice just as quiet, but still firm.  “What happened before, that was the magic.”

  
“Before?” Bucky shook his head in confusion.  “You mean when you both ran from each other for _years_?”

 

“Yeah, we got hit with the wrong arrows, Cupid said,” Steve nodded, doodling some more on his sheet of paper, the doodles looking like an adorable cartoonized version of Darcy, with little hearts all around her cartoon face.  “They kept us separate.  This was just, finally lifting that.  We’re good now, it’s how we’re supposed to be.  And I wanna marry her, and she wants to marry me, and we want to make up for lost time and be _happy_ together.”

 

“Huh,” Bucky huffed out.  He held up his metal middle finger in a smirking Sam’s face on principle before bringing his hand down and clasping it on Steve’s shoulder.  “I believe you, pal.  And I know you and Darcy are gonna be as happy as possible.”

 

“Thanks, Buck.”

 

* * *

 

“Are you under the influence of magic?”

  
“Magic isn’t real, it’s just science---”

 

“Don’t give me that line.  Are you in your right mind?”

 

“Are any of us?”

 

“Are you pregnant?”

 

“Uhm---no?  I mean, it’s been two weeks, and technically I started ovulating yesterday,” Darcy bit at her lip.

 

“Why do you know when you’re ovulating?” Natasha continued her aggressive questioning of Darcy as they sat in a little room at the front of the chapel.  Wanda was working at Darcy’s nails, Jane was digging through a makeup bag for the perfect shade of blush, while Natasha expertly ran the curling wand through locks of Darcy’s hair.

 

“It’s important to know,” Darcy shrugged.  “And your body tells you because when you’re ovulating, you’re kind of like _jumping_ people.  You know, in the boudoir.”

 

“Natasha,” Wanda said quietly before Nat could begin questioning again.  “It’s not magic...it’s not a spell.  What Darcy and Steve feel is genuine.”

 

“How can you be sure?” Natasha sighed.  

 

“I can feel it,” Wanda sighed.  “It’s warm, and all encompassing, and _beautiful_.  They are linked together whether they get married or not.  And it’s real, it’s untainted and pure.”

 

“Darcy’s been in love with Steve forever, duh,” Jane shrugged, holding up two shades of red lipstick for Darcy to chose from.”She was just being embarrassed and stubborn in denying herself.”

 

“Stupid Cupid,” Darcy grumbled.  “I’m getting the blame cause _Cupid_ picked the wrong arrow.”

 

“Thor said technically it was Loki,” Jane reminded her.

 

“Stupid both of them, then,” Darcy nodded.

 

“I just want you to be happy,” Natasha sighed as Darcy’s lipstick was carefully applied, the last swipe of nail polish was applied and the last curl was unwound from the curling wand.  “And if you decide to walk away too late, it’ll destroy Steve.  So I need to be sure you’re in this for the long haul and not because you got hit with an arrow.”

 

“I’m in this forever,” Darcy nodded.  She stood and smiled as Jane rushed to affix her veil.  She stood straight as the other women sighed over her appearance.  A simple white sun dress, sleeveless and cinched in at her waist, flaring out around her knees along with the gentle curls and gauzy veil  were given thumbs up and smiles.  

 

She looked angelic, and Natasha’s smile was the warmest of all of them.

 

Darcy shrugged and reached out a hand for Natasha, careful of the fresh polish on her nails. “You were _right_ all of this time.  You did have a friend that I would absolutely love.  I _love_ Steve, Natasha.  I want to spend the rest of my life doing just that.”

 

* * *

 

 

The wedding felt like a typical Vegas affair.  Aside from the dreamy haze that Steve and Darcy were stuck in, it was pretty much your standard _I do_ ceremony.  But with every passing minute, the euphoria that was encompassing Darcy and Steve soon spread through everyone else.  

 

Wanda had been on cloud nine since they had found Darcy and Steve, being the most susceptible to leech off of other’s emotions.  Thor was quick to follow, and he pulled Jane along with.  Scott was always on the edge of easy happiness, so it hadn’t been long into Darcy’s walk down the aisle until he was grinning like a loon.  T’Challa had been confused, he hadn’t thought that Darcy and Steve knew each other a month ago, but both of his friends looked happy, so he could never deny them that with his confusion.  

 

Sam had been sold on the happiness the minute Steve had taken Darcy’s hands in his at the end of her walk down the aisle.  Sam’s grin was almost as big as Steve’s after that.  

 

Bucky marveled at the beautiful dame that was tenderly holding his best friend’s hands.  It’s not that he didn’t like Darcy.  Bucky _adored_ Darcy two minutes after meeting her.  He was just a little scared that what they were feeling wasn’t real, that it could evaporate and disappear.  It was the last thing he wanted for either of them.  

 

Somewhere around the time when the officiant asked if anyone had any objections, Bucky was a believer.  Darcy had winked at Steve cheekily, earning that Steve Rogers trademarked huff of laughter, and then she had boldly looked right at Bucky and stuck her entire tongue out at him right in the middle of her wedding.  

 

Last to fall was Natasha, who still thought this was some kind of attack on two people that she cared for so much.  And her final approval and descent into the contagious happiness was the tender way in which Steve placed the ring on Darcy’s finger.  

 

There was no way the look between the two of them could possibly be magic.  It was real.  

 

After years, Natasha Romanoff had finally gotten Steve and Darcy’s love life under control, and all she had to do was accidentally involve Cupid.

 

**Author's Note:**

> The original prompt was: When Darcy looked up and saw Cupid with his bow (literally) she knew she was in trouble...
> 
> Happy early Valentine's Day, littleplebe. I hope that you liked this!!!


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